hardest thing on electrical system ?

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acpat

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Long ago I worked for an old man who had been working on cars since the 50's. I was daily driving a 1968 273/270 dart hardtop. we were sitting around on milk crates watching it rain as it was slow. He told me hardest thing on any car wiring is car wash soap. I questioned it and he told me best way to end up walking is wash that wiring with hot soap and water once a month at car wash. Later I thought about it and it makes sense. Been washing motors with rinse cycle every since and doing only when absolutely necessary.
 
The biggest problems with old Mopars (and some others) in addition to being terribly "under" fused (protected) is the ammeter, and bulkhead connector. LOTS of these cars did "just fine" with no added accessories. But add "larger than" about a 60A alternator, and start adding stuff to the car, and you have trouble

The MAD article is a very good overview of the problem:

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

Also, headlight wiring was minimally small, and rear lighting harness was a bit light if you towed trailers, as I did with my 70 RR, which already has 4 stop/ tail lights

"Ma" knew this was a problem, as indicated if you can find the documentation on what is known as "fleet, police, taxi" wiring. This was used on 60? or 65A optional alternators, and basically, ran the ammeter wires through the firewall with individual grommets, bypassing the bulkhead connector.

So far as car washes, "I don't know." "Back then," I washed down the engine bay a LOT, on my 64, 69, and 70
 
Yet another excellent and thorough post from 67Dart273. Thank you Del.
 
If your car has a computer, don't wash the engine period.
But the older cars under consideration, I only do it when I am going to drive the car so the engine bay heats up and dries the connections out. (Leaf blowers help too)
I would think retained moisture is the problem.
Yes, clean metal might tend to corrode more than greasy metal. Who knows?
But I like clean.

PS. Keep the water off of the master cylinder.
Ever wonder why the brake fluid turns amber?
Look it up.
 
adriver said:
PS. Keep the water off of the master cylinder.
Ever wonder why the brake fluid turns amber?
Look it up.
Click to expand...

The master 'is' sealed, at least the older ones. Now if it leaks, that's different
 
The soap at the car wash is pretty caustic. As a teen I worked against gas station with an automated wash. One of the jobs was to keep the soap filled I started filling it and a customer came and had to stop. So I set the container I the front fender of my car. Well things got bust and I eventually got back to filling the soap. But never noticed the ring of soap on my car until tend to day. When I washed it off it left a prefect ring of missing paint. Now diluted it is not as bad but it does have gone pretty strong to get the bugs and dirt off in such a short period of time without actual physical contact.
 
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